Whoops, a few people forgot to pack up their massive pop tents. And another person left behind a big barbeque on the beach.
Revelers who packed the coast on the Fourth of July also left behind countless pieces of plastics and trash littering beaches across Southern California.
Volunteers on July 5 — considered the dirtiest beach day of the year — set out armed with bags and gloves at Venice Beach, San Pedro, Huntington Beach and Doheny State Beach in an attempt to put a dent in the debris left by the hundreds of thousands of partiers who showed up throughout the holiday weekend. More clean-ups this weekend will be held to scoop up what’s still left behind.
Surfrider Foundation held cleanups from San Diego to San Francisco and beaches in between. In Huntington Beach, hundreds of people showed up ready to work, helping the State Parks clean-up crew who started gathering trash early in the morning.
“It was a mess,” said KC Fockler, education coordinator for the North Orange County chapter. “It’s almost heart-wrenching.”
There were beer and soda cans, chip bags, fireworks and plenty of plastics. One surprise was the number of plastic bottles on the beach, which in recent years hasn’t been seen as much, he said.
Plucking trash off the beach is important, not just so the region’s pristine beaches don’t look like a dump but also to protect the wildlife that call the coast home.
“The beach is the last defense from all the trash before it hits the ocean,” he said. “It affects the environment not only in the ocean, all the birds, the nesting birds … even little kids, crawling around in the sand, picking up other people’s garbage and trash. It’s a shame it ends up like that.”
The North OC Surfrider chapter in the past six months has removed 20,000 pounds of trash. Fockler said an estimated 1,200 pounds were scooped up on July 5.
“It’s important we have clean beaches for everybody to enjoy,” he said.
Richard Busch, North OC…
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